Ventilation

We Work with Our Customers on All Aspects of Their Buildings
Ventilation creates a healthier, drier building and helps provide an ideal environment for building occupants and sensitive stored materials. Legacy structures offer fabric building ventilation options to suit your needs.
With Legacy Building Solutions you can rest assured that you are getting a fully engineered building, constructed on time and on budget, with lower building lifecycle costs in the long run.


ventilation of a fabric building
Passive Ventilation System
Passive ventilation uses gravity to provide fresh air circulation inside a building with zero ongoing cost and maintenance. Passive ventilation systems may provide enough ventilation on their own, or they may be combined with active systems to provide more air turns. Overhangs, open walls, endwall panels and ridge vents are sources of passive ventilation.
Air intake is best achieved under the fabric structure overhang. This keeps fresh air flowing in at the occupied level of the structure and provides ventilation the entire length of the building. The lighter, cooler air flows in through the overhangs; as the air heats up it rises and is exhausted out the ridge vents.
There are several fabric building ventilation options for passive exhaust systems. An open ridge vent lets warm, humid air push out the peak unrestricted. Or incorporate a one-piece exhaust vent to block rain, snow and birds from entering through the ventilation system. Aluminum ARV vents are a cost-effective, attractive way to provide peak exhaustion.
Endwall panels are another maintenance-free way to ventilate a building. Mesh or aluminum panels are available in any size and several colors to blend in with the building.

Active Ventilation System
Fans, louvers and exhaust vents are more “hands-on” ways to create fabric building ventilation. Although these options require more up-front cost and maintenance than a passive ventilation system, they may provide the right amount of air for your application.
Fans and louvers are available in several colors and sizes. Talk to your building consultant for the most accurate information about fabric building ventilation options for your building.

Cavity Ventilation
Lined buildings include a separate cavity ventilation system to prevent condensation from accumulating on the steel frame. Cavity ventilation uses many of the same active and passive systems mentioned above, with the addition of tunnels to ventilate the cavity and the main building area.
Case Study
River Cree Resort & Casino
29,680 sq ft Multi-Purpose Casino and Entertainment Facility | Enoch, AB
In this state of the art fabric structure facility, River Cree Casino combines superior acoustics, with clear, multi-level interior spaces. Learn more about River Cree Resort and Casino here.
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Fern Hollow Water Treatment Plant
7,549 sq ft Municipal Water Treatment Facility | Moon Township, PA
A Water Treatment Plant cover was designed, manufactured, and installed by Legacy crews overtop the existing water treatment equipment. Reducing maintenance time and costs.
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Biomethane Production Office & Processing Building
19,200 sq ft Biomethane Waste-to-Energy Production Building
The Biomethane Production Facility has a tall peak to allow tipping trucks inside, and a tightly sealed building envelope to contain odors. Clearspan floor space leaves plenty of room to store food waste for use.
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Southeast County Landfill
139,750 sq ft Biosolids Compost Cover
Legacy created an open-air building that allowed them to increase the productivity of the facility. Our engineering made it possible to consolidate it in one large building rather than the three structures proposed in the early stages of the building process.
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AGC Automotive
16,482 sq ft Automotive Storage Structure | Elizabethtown, KY
An automotive company needed to store large tooling and equipment at their Elizabethtown, Kentucky, facility. After learning about the capabilities of fabric buildings on a rigid steel frame, they installed one building 160 feet wide by 100.5 feet long.
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City of Davenport
21,000 sq ft Bus Storage Building | Davenport, IA
Keeping diesel busses warm in the winter isn’t just nice, it’s a necessity. This bus garage does the job with R-25 insulation and a great design.
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Aero Storage
96,000 sq ft Aircraft Assembly Hangar | Kansas
Big doors, natural light and plenty of clearspan space for equipment are the highlights of this aero storage facility. Our design features a completely removable door for oversized vehicles.
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Luxury Automotive Showroom and Offices
4,960 sq ft Portable Showroom & Temporary Office Building | Cerritos, CA
The owners of this Lexus dealership needed a temporary showroom for their growing business. Our structure met their needs: fast design, timely installation and an elegant finish to impress their affluent customers. Our custom design was just what they needed, when they needed it.
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Ontario Airport (ONT) Cargo Facilities
126,320 sq ft Cargo Logistics Facilities | Ontario, CA
As consumers continue to increase their demand for next-day packages, the square footage necessary for sorting increases as well. Ontario International Airport in California is the West Coast air and truck hub for UPS Airlines and is a major distribution point for FedEx Express. The Airport Authority found themselves requiring more space, resulting in a re-organization of the airport and the construction of two cargo buildings.
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Solar Ship, Inc. Off-Grid Aircraft Assembly Hangar
40,597 sq ft Aircraft Assembly Hangar | Brantford, ON
Solar Ship, Inc. is a Canadian company that develops hybrid aircraft designed to provide access to remote locations worldwide. The Solar Ship aircraft operate using solar power – an ideal the company is committed to maintaining in the design of their assembly facilities and hangars. In 2014, Solar Ship contacted Legacy Building Solutions to engineer, install and provide project management services on a new hangar in Brantford, Ontario.
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DHL Express Logistics Staging Pavilions
237,800 sq ft DHL-ULD Logistics – Americas HUB Buildings | CVG Airport – Erlanger, KY
DHL Express expanded their hub to include two pavilion buildings for cargo storage and logistics.
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YMM Airport Garage and Tool Shed
4,540 sq ft Airport Tool Shed and Vehicle Maintenance Shop | YMM Airport – Fort McMurray, AB
The airport lost many support buildings in a fire. The Airport Commission partnered with Legacy Building Solutions to design and install two new buildings.
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Agriland FS Woodbine Fertilizer Storage
19,404 sq ft Fertilizer Storage Building | Woodbine, IA
Agriland FS, Inc. is a farmer-owned cooperative that provides agricultural products directly to farmers. After several years working from a leased building, Agriland FS determined the need to add a permanent fertilizer storage building at their Woodbine, Iowa, location. The new building would be used for storing, mixing and distributing fertilizer. “We needed a building we could adapt,” said Curtis Hoakison, procurement manager. “Having everything contained in one facility was easier than trying to add another part to an existing building.”
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Feed Products & Bulk Feed Storage
62,800 sq ft Bulk Feed Storage Building | Madison, IL
Feed Products and Service is a supplier of animal feed products with multiple locations across North America. When business growth led to the expansion of their Madison, Illinois, location, they added a fabric structure to store and distribute bulk feed.
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Northern Farmers Co-op Fertilizer Storage
14,616 sq ft Fertilizer Storage Building | Williams, MN
Being able to customize a structure for the needs of a building owner is one thing; the ability to customize it to the future needs of a customer is another matter altogether. That’s what Legacy did for Northern Farmers Co-op. The cooperative had a need for more fertilizer storage, but they also wanted one that could be expanded and modified based on future needs.
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Gunther Salt Company Salt Storage Building
28,080 sq ft Commercial Salt Storage Building | St. Louis, MO
Gunther Salt Company is a distributor of various salt products throughout the Midwest. Due to business growth, they needed a new storage and distribution facility at their St. Louis headquarters. “We were looking for something that would last and have multiple uses,” said Darrin Chapman, plant manager. The building stores a specialized agricultural salt mix, which arrives at the facility via barges and is loaded onto trucks by conveyor belt.
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Silver Drache Farms Dressage Arena
22,000 sq ft Professional Riding Arena | Palm City, FL
Silver Drache Farm is a private equestrian facility used to train and board dressage horses in Palm City, Florida. The highly trained horses require daily exercise – which is not always possible with an outdoor arena. “The type of training that we do would require us to be in the sun for an extended period of time,” said Andrea Eppley, owner of Silver Drache Farm LLC. “In south Florida that’s just not practical.”
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Seahorse Run Covered Riding Arena
20,000 sq ft Covered Riding Arena | Suffolk, VA
Seahorse Run is an equestrian boarding and training facility that provides a full range of services to riders of all disciplines, including training, clinics, and competitions. As a top class riding facility, Seahorse Run uses specialized footing that allows the horses to perform their best and prevents injuries. Protecting this footing is a high priority for Seahorse Run owner Flynn Gladden. “If you don’t have a cover, the ground is too inconsistent to ride,” said Gladden.
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Kuka Equestrian Center Riding Arena and Barn
50,400 sq ft Riding Arena with Attached Barn | Maple Plain, MN
This combines a barn area with a riding arena, so it does it all. Natural light and horse-friendly acoustics are just two benefits of working with fabric.
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Winnemucca Rodeo and Event Center
54,400 sq ft Equestrian Event Center | Winnemucca, NV
This structure provides the advantages of an open air design with protection from the elements for the cattle. An adjustable vent system keeps it dry and cool inside.
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Hay Storage and Cattle Operations Building
18,000 sq ft Cattle Operations Building | Yorkville, IL
The Legacy Building Solutions team designed and constructed this custom 18,000 sq ft tension fabric cattle operations building in Yorkville, Illinois. Our team of designers, developers and builders create unique, custom fabric building solutions for a wide variety of uses.
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Cattle and Finishing Building
14,400 sq ft Cattle & Finishing Building | Odell, IL
Open on three sides, this cattle operation building keeps the cattle dry while providing plenty of ventilation. The design makes the structure adaptable to future changes.
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Camp Lemonnier NEX
11,200 sq ft Military Retail Facility | Djibouti, Africa
In the fall of 2015, KBR, a global provider of services and technologies across 60 countries and three synergistic global businesses, approached Legacy Building Solutions with a structure need for the Camp Lemonnier base in Djibouti, Africa. The primary objectives of the new structure included flexibility to relocate and accommodate growth at the Djibouti location. With all building options coming in at a comparable price point, the decision ultimately came down to finding the best solution. “The finished interior was a key factor in ultimately choosing Legacy, as well as the simplicity of the solution and the relocatability. The extended life span of a Legacy building over competitors was also a main factor in choosing Legacy,” stated KBR’s on site JOC Project Manager.
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Montgomery Ventures Aviation Hangars
3,600 sq ft Military Aircraft Hangars | Nigeria
Three hangars, three different designs. Being able to customize complex projects for the military results in some very interesting and successful buildings.
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Frac Sand Storage Building
57,600 sq ft Frac Sand Storage and Distribution Building | Wembley, AB
When working with frac sand storage, you need a building that works with your operations to load, unload and store your materials. And you probably need something, like this, that’s big.
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Los Bronces Temporary Truck Shop
5,412 sq ft CAT 795F Truck Maintenance Shop | Santiago, Chile
Need a truck maintenance shop on top of a mountain in the Andes? We can do that. This building is engineered to withstand some of the toughest weather on the planet.
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Mining Truck Shop and Maintenance Building
10,241 sq ft Vehicle Maintenance Building | Antofagasta, Chile
Big truck storage is our specialty. Our frames can handle big doors for mining trucks, and our customization can create a building that adapts and fits in with your current operations.
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Lyons Salt Company Salt Mine Storage
48,600 sq ft Salt Mining Storage Building | Lyons, Kansas
Lyons Salt Company is a Kansas-based company that mines and produces deicing salt and agricultural feed salt products. Because Kansas law requires salt to be kept under cover, they use flat storage buildings to store equipment and bulk salt. Lyons had a fabric structure on an open web truss system that was severely corroded due to fine dust particles settling on the exposed hollow tube trusses. Lyons specified a fabric structure for the new enclosure – metal buildings corrode too quickly when exposed to massive quantities of salt, and wood buildings are too expensive to be cost effective.
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Basin Electric Power Cooperative Bottom Ash Dewatering Facility
52,800 sq ft Coal-Fired Energy Plant Processing Remediation Building | Stanton, ND
Constructed over the top of an existing waste water facility, the structure protects equipment that is dewatering ash from a power plant. Ventilation was key for this operation, and the system installed did six interior air replacements per hour.
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BBE Hydro Vehicle Maintenance and Warehouse Buildings
30,800 sq ft Vehicle Maintenance and Warehouse Buildings | Thompson, MB
Vehicle maintenance for a hydro electric plant in Manitoba needs to be two things: big and warm. We delivered both. This structure also has a twin next door which serves as a warehouse.
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Montezuma Manufacturing Warehouse
9,600 sq ft Automotive Component Manufacturing Warehouse | Montezuma, IA
This warehouse for automotive manufacturing needed straight walls and a tall peak for the racks of components. Water control was a key factor, so a gutter system to keep water far from the foundation.
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Five Rivers Sand and Salt Storage
64,200 sq ft Salt and Sand Storage Buildings | Van Buren, AR
Five Rivers Distribution is a port storage facility that stores and distributes bulk material including chicken feed, road salt and fertilizer. In 2014, they added a 15,000 square foot Legacy building at their facility in Van Buren, Arkansas. Satisfied with the performance of two smaller “hoop” buildings already onsite, they specified a fabric structure for their new addition. After investigating the available options and consulting with other port managers, Five Rivers chose Legacy Building Solutions to design, manufacture and install the new storage buildings.
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Duraport Marine and Rail Terminal Warehouse
51,360 sq ft Drywall Storage Building | Bayonne, NJ
Duraport contacted Legacy Building Solutions for a building designed with a cast-in-place concrete wall foundation and connect to an existing brick office building.
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IEI Barge Services Storage Building
63,010 sq ft Tension Fabric Building for Fertilizer Storage and Blending | East Dubuque, IL
IEI Barge Services is a bulk fertilizer storage, mixing and transloading facility along the banks of the Mississippi River. In 2015, they began shopping for a bulk storage building to accommodate business growth. Poor soil conditions, along with the requirements of loading and storing bulk product and withstanding constant exposure to corrosive fertilizer, made steel buildings impractical and prohibitively expensive. “Because of our soil issues, we simply couldn’t afford to construct a more traditional building,” said Joe Bitter, general manager of Alliant Energy/IEI Barge Services. “The lightweight design of our Legacy building allowed us to reach a compromise between soil conditions and cost.”
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New Yard LLC Marine Storage Building
19,200 sq ft Marine Storage Building | Portland, ME
Storing boats is serious business, especially if you are in Portland, Maine. This facility protects boats with insulated walls and climate control while still allowing for natural light from the roof panels.
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Fox Creek Multiplex
58,363.8 sq ft Community Sports and Event Center | Fox Creek, AB
A normal building project for us means putting up a structure that is customized to the needs of the customer, making sure it works for them. Fox Creek was a very different kind of project. It was about building a community, about creating resources that would change the face of a town in northern Alberta.
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Stony Brook University College Athletics Facility
58,275 sq ft Tension Fabric Building for College Athletics | Stony Brook, NY
A traditional university setting calls for a beautiful field house. Stony Brook's field house feature inverted steel frame legs to give it a unique look that fit into the rather limited footprint.
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Westwood Indoor Tennis Building
15,123 sq ft Indoor Tennis Center
Westwood Tennis expanded by adding an indoor tennis building to their facility for year-round tennis.
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Bethel Park Reserve Road Salt Storage
11,700 sq ft of Reserve Road Salt Storage
Adhering to state regulations, the city of Bethel Park added an permanent fabric structure for road salt storage. The custom building was designed and installed within a tight timeline and on a difficult site.
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Max Rhoads Wastewater Settling Tank Cover
15, 232 sq ft Wastewater Settling Tank Cover
After considering options for a building that met the corrosion-resistance criteria and could be erected over settling tanks already in place, RWRA chose Legacy Building Solutions as their basis of design for a wastewater cover.
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Chillicothe Correctional Institution WWT & Dewatering Structure
6,550 sq ft Wastewater Treatment Dewatering Structure
Attached to a traditional brick building, this building protects a waste water and biosolid processing facility. Our frames support a conveyor system and passive ventilation controls the building’s humidity.
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Public Works Road Salt Storage Building
7,200 sq ft Road Salt Storage Building | Watford City, ND
Salt storage is notoriously corrosive, so our solid steel frames are protected by both our fabric walls and hot-dipped galvanizing. Precast concrete walls on the interior help with salt storage, loading and unloading.
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SMM Scrap Metal Recycling
21,975 sq ft Material Separation and Storage
While the state regulations called for a three-sided structure with a roof, the finished building has all four walls enclosed. Framed doorways along the sidewall give the option of fully enclosing the building if needed to adhere with future requirements.
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Lee County Ash Monofill and Compost Facility
19,440 sq ft Ash Monofill & Compost Facility
Lee County, Florida uses three corrosion resistant fabric structures for municipal compost drying.
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Highland WRF Covered Sludge Storage
20,400 sq ft Tension Fabric Structure for Covered BioSolid Storage
A custom tension fabric building gave the city of Highland extra capacity and the ability to handle biosolids more effectively.
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Tronson Grain Fertilizer Storage
37,200 sq ft Fertilizer Storage
Legacy designed, manufactured and constructed a fertilizer storage building for Tronson Grain up in Crary, North Dakota, features multiple storage bins and a 150-ton capacity automated loading and mixing machine.
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Vulpes Recreation
9,800 sq ft Private Sports Facility
This private multi-sport facility includes a main volleyball floor, an exercise mezzanine, a kitchen and more.
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Smithfield Bulk Feed Storage Structure
60,000 sq ft Flat Feed Storage
The largest hog producer and processor increased their feed manufacturing system with a tension fabric building.
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Shelburne Transload
101,520 sq ft Salt Storage + Distribution at a Railroad Transload Facility
Vermont Railways, Inc. was looking to develop a new state-of-the-art rail-to-truck transload facility to efficiently handle bulk commodities.
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U.S. Steel
55,000 sq ft Automotive Maintenance Facility
The steel facility has the highest roof peak we’ve ever constructed at 97 feet. The walls, too, are the tallest we’ve constructed at 74 feet.
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